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NEW DATA ALERT: the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center state pages now allow comparison of county-level COVID-19 case and testing data against key demographic information, including race and poverty level. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/us/iowa 1/x
There are known racial/ethnic disparities in #covid19 case, hospitalization and death data. But less well understood is disparities in testing. Part of this may be due to lack of data. Only 7 states (DE, IL, IN, KS, NV, RI, UT) report testing data by race/ethnicity 2/x
Our new data tool starts the conversation about testing disparities by allowing you to visualize testing per capita at the county level against that county's demographics and percentage of population that is living below the poverty line. 3/x
Comparing tests per capita to each county's demographics is not the same as understanding the demographics of who gets tested. But hopefully it's a start towards increased access to these data. We call on states to make available a demographic breakdown of who gets tested 4/x
There is increasing need for these data. As large employers and universities use tests regularly to screen their populations. The high volume of tests performed in these environments can mask testing uptake and access issues outside of these environments 5/x
We need to identify if and understand why certain communities are unable or otherwise not getting tested so that we can remove barriers or disincentives. 6/x
Reducing transmission and improving clinical outcomes is aided by early diagnosis of #covid19. But this requires having tests where they are needed and used by those who needs them. 7/x
In order to improve testing and the public health interventions that follow a positive test, we need better data to know where more testing is needed and why some people may not be getting tested. 8/x
11 months into this pandemic, we do not have adequate testing data to understand where testing is going well and where improvements are needed. Our understanding of the current testing environment and how best to response is hurt by this. 9/x
You can explore each state here: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region Click on a state and use the dropdowns to explore by cases by demographic layers. You can see testing data by these layers if state provides machine readable testing data
Many kudos to @biblauer's excellent team for bringing this to life. Fin.
